Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor is confident the UFC can entice him to face Tony Ferguson Getty

KEY POINTS

  • McGregor is expected to defend his title against Ferguson at UFC 219 in December.
  • Ferguson became the interim champion after his win over Kevin Lee at UFC 216.

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor has revealed that while negotiations are taking place for a fight with Tony Ferguson, he is struggling to get excited about the match-up.

The Irishman is due to return to the octagon with interim lightweight champion Ferguson expected to be his first opponent since his boxing debut loss to Floyd Mayweather in August.

While many in the combat world are excited about the prospect of such a match-up, which is still expected to be the main event of UFC 219 on 30 December, McGregor does not share the same sentiments.

However, it has nothing to do with Ferguson's ability but rather, the drawing power of "El Cucuy" whose UFC 216 win in Las Vegas over Kevin Lee claimed just over 100,000 pay-per-view buys.

"We're in negotiation stage right now. That's a lengthy process," McGregor told BBC via MMAWeekly. "They've got to make me excited about it."

"I came from a crazy event, a record-breaking event, the billion dollar fight it was labelled. I made insane money. Then the opponents they're trying to line up for me, an opponent [Tony Ferguson] with a $600,000 gate in Las Vegas.

"A $600,000 gate in Las Vegas is unheard of, it's abysmal. So it's hard to get excited about that. 100,000 pay-per-view buys compared to my 6.5 million pay-per-view buys."

Ferguson's case was not helped as the event took place a couple of days after the Las Vegas shootings but regardless, many such as UFC commentator Joe Rogan believe it doesn't matter as any event with McGregor will draw purely from his presence.

The "Notorious" though, claims the fight can still happen if the UFC can entice him: "It's a hard one to get excited about, but we're in negotiation stage."

"Can they entice me? No doubt they can. Have they done yet? No."

Meanwhile, the 29-year-old is still awaiting a possible punishment for pushing referee Marc Goddard at Bellator 187.

President of the Association of Boxing Commissions and Combative Sports Mike Mazzulli revealed after the incident that he has been in contact with not only the UFC but also the ABC member commissions that license McGregor to fight.

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